Soft shackles

[Page]

I made one of these the other day just for fun. I maybe have one use for it, anybody use these for anything?

 

[Page]

Forgot the picture,

 

[cory]

Not I

 

[frans]

They are fun to make and fearsomely strong depending on what line you use.
I made a couple of them to add to my off-road recovery gear. Check out the wall and crown knot

 

[SeanKroll]

I fixed the strap connection on my gf's overalls with one.

 

[flushcut]

I do not use one.

 

[SeanKroll]

So... only one overall strap?

 

[friedrich]

i am meaning to make one but always forget about it, mainly to attach blocks and wire chockers.

 

[SeanKroll]

Wire chokers could need a chafe sleeve.

 

[friedrich]

Wire chokers could need a chafe sleeve.

yes, probably won't hurt

 

[Tree09]

For the love of God don't use them with wire chokers!!!!! That'll cut them up in no time! They are awesome in the right situation, which for me isn't that often. On a boat they are used because they are soft so they won't beat the boat to death when the rigging is whipping around in the wind, so that's a great application. I wanna get a set of box end crows feet wrenches, so I'll likely make one up to hold them all so they can be tossed in my tool bag, just thread all the wrenches on it and lock it.

If you had a spliced rigging line i could see you using them to connect slings or different hooks, or maybe on a saw lanyard or to connect your leg loops on a saddle. They would be awesome for adding a tool loop, or you can use one to connect a chain or a chippable toggle thing to a winch line (added bonus of being more rope rather than steel). They work like a grommet so you can use them for rigging stuff that uses grommets. They're basically a soft master link that you can make in whatever size you need, so that's pretty cool. The biggest problem with them is that they trade durability and stiffness to become light, but that's often what you need in a shackle.

 

[flushcut]

I am still trying to figure out a use for one. (Other the overall straps)

 

[Eric H-L]

I make then out of throw line and use them for keychains or to attach a little lanyard to a hand tool. Anything a keychain carabiner might be used for but harder to operate the soft shackle.

 

[Page]

I use a “chain” that I spliced to hold the portawrap. The first loop is large so I can put the chain around the tree and still have a loop big enough to girth hitch over the porty. 90% of the time this works just fine but it does leave a lot of slack then between the pinch point of the sling and the porty sometimes you need the portawrap to be tighter. I was thinking I could use the soft shackle as the final link in the chain. It may keep it tighter. Who knows. I just like making them. I also made a small 8” loop with the ends buried through it. Makes a great frisbees 😂

 

[friedrich]

For the love of God don't use them with wire chokers!!!!! That'll cut them up in no time! They are awesome in the right situation, which for me isn't that often. On a boat they are used because they are soft so they won't beat the boat to death when the rigging is whipping around in the wind, so that's a great application. I wanna get a set of box end crows feet wrenches, so I'll likely make one up to hold them all so they can be tossed in my tool bag, just thread all the wrenches on it and lock it.

If you had a spliced rigging line i could see you using them to connect slings or different hooks, or maybe on a saw lanyard or to connect your leg loops on a saddle. They would be awesome for adding a tool loop, or you can use one to connect a chain or a chippable toggle thing to a winch line (added bonus of being more rope rather than steel). They work like a grommet so you can use them for rigging stuff that uses grommets. They're basically a soft master link that you can make in whatever size you need, so that's pretty cool. The biggest problem with them is that they trade durability and stiffness to become light, but that's often what you need in a shackle.

ok, thanks. good to know. my plan was, when pulling logs with wire chokers, whenever i have to rig a 2:1. at the moment i use old slings to be able to use my blocks but they don‘t last (obviously).

would a steel shakle inbetween work?

 

[Tree09]

You could yes, but i would use 2 chained together so they can't possibly rub. Wire rope is an amazing thing, but it does not play nice with anything softer than hardened steel. I had a foreman that was dumb enough to set a tank mixing both steel and nylon straps, in 1 pick it cut the eye of the nylon about 75 percent of the way thru. So if you had say a synthetic or textile rope winch line and wanted to use wire chokers, i would personally want a quicker attachment such as a hook so it's easier to handle. Obviously a regular hook would likely snag on stuff, so i would use a self closing hook, which btw are pretty useless for choking stuff with because it bends since it's not solid steel so you can't use a boiler hitch that were made to use an old school fixed hook.

The hook would physically separate the rope from the wire, but a single steel shackle would put the rope in a situation where it could potentially rub on the wire, so i would likely use 2 shackles chained together which would keep everything completely separate. Chaining shackles together is a great trick for separating rigging so it won't bind or rub when transferring and rotating the load, and it's also handy when you need to lengthen a strap a touch to make something pick level, just keep adding shackles on the lighter side as needed until it comes up level. Putting shackles so their pins are touching turns 2 shackles into something approximating a master link, so you can hook one side to the load then the other side can have multiple smaller shackles that are used to transfer the load to different rigging points.

 

[friedrich]

thank you!